NORTH BAY, ONT. — More than 150 students participated in ’s inaugural Innovation Challenge, a one-day event with a pitch competition in which 28 teams of students and community members devised innovative solutions to real-world challenges.
Student teams were given a few hours to develop and refine their ideas before presenting them to a panel of judges representing various sectors of the business and entrepreneurial community. The top teams then had the opportunity to pitch their ideas to the entire group of participants.
Keynote speakers included Jairek Robbins, performance coach and best-selling author; Shawn Kanungo, globally recognized strategist; and Emmanuel Pacheco, head of Central Greenfield Acquisitions at Google Cloud. Financier Michael Wekerle, Indigenous entrepreneur Dr. Shyra Barberstock, and entrepreneur Vijay Kanwar joined North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce president Donna Backer and director of Canadore’s First Peoples’ Centre Sarah Julian on the judges panel.
The teams created solutions in five key areas and a winning team was chosen in each focus area:
- Mobilizing Clean Water: The winning team proposed a rainwater and snow collection system as a pilot project to provide clean water to Indigenous communities.
- Community Revitalization and Sustainable Development: The team developed a digital community app that helps newcomers connect with local people and services.
- Food Security: The team suggested building a campus greenhouse to supply fresh food for students.
- Health and AI: The team introduced an AI-powered app aimed at promoting health and wellness.
- Affordable Housing: The winning team designed a modular housing plan incorporating shared and personal green spaces.
Each team won $5,000 for their project and will now receive support to develop full business plan proposals.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed